It has been conventionally suggested to provide a safety cover intended for use for example in a product display of a sewing machine. Such safety cover covers the front side of the sewing needle to prevent exterior contact; for instance, preventing a visitor from touching the sewing needle with his/her fingers.
A first related example disclosed in JP-Y-S61-198678 is a finger guard for a double-needle sewing machine. The disclosed finger guard is made of a metal wire and has a U-shaped curved portion surrounding the front side of the sewing needle and an arm extending to a sewing machine head side. The arm is mounted rotatably to the sewing machine head. Thus, the curved portion is arranged to be switchable between an operating position surrounding the front side of the sewing needle and a non-operating position retracted in the upward direction. However, since the finger guard of the first related example is formed by a metal wire, sufficient coverage cannot be secured to prevent the user's fingers from contacting the sewing needle.
Also, a second example JP-B-H11-267388 discloses a safety cover. The disclosed safety cover includes an arm rotatably connected to the lower end of the presser bar, a protection plate provided in the front end of the arm, and a lens attached to an opening of the protection plate. The protection plate is arranged to be switchable from an active position covering the front side of the sewing needle and a retracted position turned about a presser bar and retracted in the rear direction.
In the safety cover disclosed in the second related example, the protection plate covers a relatively large area of the front side of the sewing needle, therefore provides more safety as compared to the first related example. However, when attaching/detaching the safety cover to/from the sewing machine, the presser foot needs to be removed from the presser bar. Thus, the attachment/detachment of the safety cover is troublesome.
The finger guard and the safety cover of the first and the second related examples respectively, guards the front side of the sewing needle during a sewing operation also. However, some claim that it is sufficient to provide a safety cover upon product exhibition or for storage purposes (when the sewing machine is not used) and that the presence of the safety cover during the sewing operation is annoying. In either case, there is a need for a safety cover capable of being attached to/detached from the sewing machine with ease and which can be provided in a simple construction and low cost.